The Challenges Facing the Policy Makers in a Rapidly Industrializing Nation - Essay Example

Introduction Knowledge, innovation and technology are interrelated concepts. Knowledge innovation has been defined by Amidon as the creation, evolution, exchange and application of new ideas into marketable goods and services vital to a nation’s economy and beneficial to the society as a whole (1997, cited by Dvir & Pasher, 2004). Innovation is the process of turning ideas and knowledge into value. Innovation is the ultimate challenge to the policy makers. Innovation is critical not merely to organizations and businesses but to the state or nation as well. Innovation is relevant to economic sustainability, to the social and cultural life. This paper will discuss the challenges facing the policy makers in a rapidly industrializing nation due to the innovation and advancement in science and technology. While science and technology must play a central role in sustainable development, institutions have to be created to effectively harness science and technology for sustainability. Cash, Clark, Alcock, Dickson, Eckley, Guston, jager and Mitchell (2003) contend that if boundaries between knowledge and action can be managed in ways which enhance the salience, legitimacy and credibility of the information they produce, then science and technology for sustainability can be more effective. Knowledge has to be linked effectively to action to make technology sustainable. Further effectiveness suffers when communication is infrequent, one-way or occurs only at the outset of an assessment. For a developing nation it is essential that scientists do not produce non-salient information or that policy makers end up with non-credible information. This implies that there have to be open channels of communication between the experts and the policy makers. Both sides should also be in a position to understand each other. Building effective knowledge systems require time and patience. These have to be built on a long-term perspective that can take account of slow impact of ideas on practice. Field experience is essential apart from enhancing human and institutional capital. Thus rapidly industrializing nations have to keep the communication channels open and updated. Farmers should be willing to give cognizance to the information received from scientists and researchers while agricultural scientists should be able to be accurate in their predictions of draught and not merely indications. Biotechnology and Food Scientists, technologists, policy makers and communities are faced with the challenge of meeting human development needs while protecting the earth’s life support system. Zakri (2005) states that biotechnology is the probably the most powerful technology ever developed. This is driven by genomics, genetic engineering and cell technology. Its practical applications can be found in medicine, cosmetics, farming and food products, forensic and waste management. Two transgenic fish species – GM salmon in the United States and a GM tilapia in Cuba are awaiting regulatory approval for food purposes. About 150 biotechnological drugs have already received FDA approval while another 500 biotech drugs are undergoing preclinical testing in Europe. Carter (2000) had mentioned that global population is expanding and nations, especially the developing nations cannot afford to sit back and not take advantage of technology. Agricultural scientists believe that proper use of biotechnology can help many crop yields while reducing the use of pesticides. New scientific discoveries have the potential to pack large amounts of technology into a single seed. They can insert genes that resist insects and diseases thus reducing the need for pesticides. Genes can also help crops withstand drought conditions. Zakri suggests that biotechnology has to be accepted as a fact of daily life. Today it is a dominant agenda in the global dialogues, which is why it is an important policy matter for governments. Biotechnology should be used to find the solutions to the most pressing global issues that pose challenge to sustainable development. This requires nexus between the scientists and the researchers and those who apply the technology, which is unfortunately missing in the developing nations. This also requires collaboration between the public and private sectors. The government has to have the regulatory safeguards in place to govern research and protect farmers. The development of this technology is costly in the industrialized nations and therefore proper incentives and protection of intellectual property rights have to be there so that the scientists can continue with their research (Carter). The diffusion of GM crops has so far concentrated in the developed nations because it requires temperate zones while in the developing nations the agricultural climate is tropical (Fukuda-Parr, 2006). Secondly, since these are pest resistant and herbicide tolerant, they are beneficial to farmers using large amount of inputs while in the developing nations poor family farms are in agriculture and not commercial farms. While public sector is investing in developing nations to meet their national needs, this requires partnering with the private sector to maximize the benefits. In addition, GM crops require bio-safety regulation as a prerequisite for commercial production. Developing nations have a weak administration and small seed companies are commercializing seeds without going through the bio-safety process. Ineffective systems have been employed in countries like India, China, Argentine and Brazil which can hamper innovation. The policy makers need to have a cohesive approach which requires institutional learning. While it is a challenge in the rapidly industrialized nations, it is not insurmountable and as Carter mentions, biotechnology is not the enemy, starvation is. The dynamics of internet Internet today is an essential infra-structure for global communications, including trade and commerce but still the world faces a digital divide. While some nations have easily adapted the technology others like China routinely block any type of political speech website from coming within their borders. Such repressive regimes are contrary to the very nature of internet. It is essential to understand what challenges the rapidly industrializing nations face in technology adoption. Corrales and Westhoff (2006) state that authoritarian regimes tend to encourage television (mature technology) and discourage the use of internet (emerging technology). This implies that technology adoption does not merely depend on the country specific characteristics but also on the technology in question. Authoritarian regimes seek to restrict usage of technologies whose content they cannot control. Thus the political liberties on technology adoption depend upon technology’s controllability. The rapidly industrialized nations fear the democratizing potential of such technologies while they take advantage of the economic potential. Dissemination of information on technology requires the evolution of human capital. Education levels have to be high as computer literacy is essential for internet adoption. This makes physical capital also an important variable as the nation must have adequate equipment and human skills to incorporate and adopt innovation and technology. Human knowledge is essential in creating technological sophistication and scientific insight. In a rapid industrializing nation like China, rising income, market orientation and trade boost both demand and supply of the internet. While it encourages the nation to be fully connected, it engages in content surveillance. The Chinese government employed 30000 people to police the internet which led to the closure of 50000 businesses. Websites like Wikipedia are banned and it has tied up with Yahoo! Google and Microsoft to establish filtering mechanisms in their search engines. Being a developing nation, it cannot allow people to use internet for political gains. China can afford not to allow this appetite to be satisfied as it has a large number of people who are satisfied with the economic and leisure gains. Multinationals who are interested in trade with China are bound to comply with state preferences. The state has the resources to restrict content but as the demand for more information increases, citizens will also learn to develop strategies to circumvent restrictions. This poses a challenge for the nation as it cannot afford political gains which can hamper its development. It is believed that technologies are immune to regulations and contribute to the demise of the state but China wants to reap economic benefits without compromising on the negative political effects through the usage of internet. It is highly unlikely that China would be able to control the undesirable effects of internet for long. Knowledge innovation and application of information technology As per the definition of knowledge innovation, knowledge is the core component of innovation and the action associated with managing the flow and the use of knowledge in an innovation process is the second core component. Hence both knowledge innovation and innovation management are equally important. In a knowledge economy, knowledge becomes the primary source for economic development while the traditional factors of production become secondary (Goh, 2005). Even a marginal increase in the traditional factors of production like land, labor or capital results in diminishing returns on additional investment but investments in every unit of knowledge results in much higher returns. This implies that industrial revolution has been superseded by knowledge revolution but not so in the developing nations. The rapidly industrializing nations have been faced with the challenge of understanding the significance of knowledge to innovation. This has led them to sink billions of dollars in investments in information technology. This is evident in the emerging markets of China where even though most retail banks provide on-line banking as an add-on service, usage is very low. It is believed that electronic banking include mobile banking can become very popular and has the greatest potential for growth of a world-scale internet economy but two factors hinder the growth (Laforet & Li, 2006). Lack of influence from the market place and the government restrictions limit the ability of private firms and individuals to contribute to internet infrastructure. Two few people hold credit cards. Besides, the attitude of the Chinese towards online banking, lifestyle, attitude towards using credit cards and adherence to the traditional concepts of funds management are some of the blockages in managing innovation. Safety is also a big hindrance to online payments. Apart from the demographic factors, trust and perceived risks also play a significant role in applying knowledge. The Chinese consumers are also concerned about the unfamiliar-technology based financial services. This makes them resistant to change and they prefer to keep on using the familiar branch banking services. Chinese are collectivists and hence group influences are equally important. The level of awareness is also low in the country about mobile and online banking. They do not attach much importance to convenience and ease of use; they are more concerned with safety factors and the perceived risks. These findings suggest that the rapidly industrialized nations have to first concentrate on increasing the educational level of the people. This itself eliminates the concerns and risks of technology. The safety factor cannot be ignored but this generally arises due to lack of information. Under these circumstances, the introduction of technology and innovation does not give the perceived benefit to the nation or the individuals. Environmental degradation and Greenhouse Emissions Economic development and industrialization have an impact on the environment. Millions die each year of acute respiratory infections, linked with indoor air pollution (smoky cooking fuels) and outdoor air pollution (mainly from industrialization). (WRI, 2002). The world continues to face this major challenge in meeting these conflicting needs while ensuring security of energy supply. Fossil fuels emit the greenhouse gases so while they ensure supply of energy, the impact on the environment is disastrous. If major disasters are to be averted, global warming must not exceed two degrees centigrade above the pre-industrial average and the CO² content must be under control (EU, 2006). Worldwide reduction in emissions has to be to the extent of 50% because it is already reaching the maximum level. At the same time, there are forecasts for massive increase in energy demand globally. Recent major economic projections suggest that at least for the next three decades fossil fuel (coal, oil and gas) will dominate the power generation. Rise in the sea level, ocean acidification, warmer climate and climatic changes are all the result of increase in the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere. Immediate action needs to be taken not just by the industrialized nations but also by those undergoing rapid industrialization, development and economic growth. Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) is a technology which can reduce the GHG emissions while fossil fuels can be used. With the help of this technology, the CO2 generated by the fossil fuel can be captured and stored in secure geological formations. This enables to sustain quality of life and environment. Adopting this technology has to be on a long-term basis where policy makers would have to conform to national and international legal requirements, ensure safe and reliable storage and gain public acceptance. In the meantime nations can have a smooth transition to a fully carbon neutral energy economy. The rapidly industrializing nations have to join in international efforts to promote scientific R&D and technology transfer. Investment in knowledge economy is essential. All these require the government to formulate policies and work in cooperation with the private companies. In India, for instance, the successive Indian governments have exploited the PSU energy companies to fulfill their own political mandate and ease their own fiscal difficulties (Feller, 2005). There is lack of organization and coordination in the public energy sector. This is because the energy companies are allowed to operate independently. They rarely cooperate and in fact compete against each other. There has to be a restructuring of the energy sector and the local governments in all rapidly industrializing nations have to work in cooperation with international bodies in tackling the greenhouse emissions. An international approach is required to deal with environmental challenges. India too is one of the countries to have signed the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement with the European Commission for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants. To bring all this into effect knowledge management has to be developed and implemented. Information that will be disseminated will have to be well researched, documented, accurate, and authentic and presented in a clear and unambiguous way. As discussed above, knowledge has to be linked effectively to action to make technology sustainable and this requires proper channels of communication. Conclusion The global problems are common to all countries but the challenge lies with the rapidly industrializing nations in handling these issues. Whether it is biotechnology, environmental protection or the internet technology, the challenges in each case remains two fold – authoritative regimes, and lack of development of the human capital. For knowledge to be effective, for innovation to be sustainable the right action at the right time is essential. In other words innovation management has to be applied which requires educating the masses. Lack of information dissuades the common people from incorporating technology in their lives. The governments have to be transparent in their dealings to win the trust of the people. They also need to partner with the private sector which facilitates incorporation of technology. To save the world from starvation, environmental degradation and allow sustainable growth, the developing nations have to cooperate with the developed nations and international bodies. Innovation and advancement in science and technology can only be met when policy changes are effected at the government level. References: Carter, J. (2000), Biotechnology Can Defeat Famine, Fall 2000 NPQ. pp. 103-104 Cash, D. W., Clark, W. C., Alcock, F., Dickson, N. M., Eckley, N., Guston, D. H., Jager, J., & Mitchell, R. B., (2003), Knowledge systems for sustainable development, 19 Nov 2006 Corrales, J. & Westhoff, F. 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